A senior-level team from The Bengal Chamber comprising Mr. Deb A Mukherjee, Chairperson, North East Initiative Committee and Energy and Environment Committee; Mr. P. Roy, Director General, BCC&I; Mr. Subhodip Ghosh, Deputy Director General, BCC&I; Mr. Nirmalya Mukherjee, Advisor - Corporate and Economic Affairs, BCC&I and Ms. Sukanya Bose, Assistant Director, BCC&I met Shri Manik Sarkar, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tripura on 16th October 2014 at the New Secretariat Complex, Agartala. They were joined by Mr. Arun Chakraborty, Administrative In-Charge, The George Telegraph Training Institute, Tripura.
The meeting was part of the Chamber’s North East Initiative and a principal objective was to explore areas of business engagement with Tripura, which was part of the larger plan of engaging with each North Eastern State with similar agenda.
Shri Manik Sarkar, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tripura articulated his interest in the Chamber facilitating the Tripura Government in bringing in investment as well as trade thus improving employment in the State. The Hon’ble Chief Minister highlighted that Tripura is rich in raw materials like tea, rubber, gas, bamboo and horticulture & agro products like pineapple, litchi etc. Therefore, the Chamber should focus on how to utilize these raw materials and bring in investors and create employability in the State. He also mentioned that with plenty of small growers of tea in the State the Chamber should try to bring in more blending and processing units to Tripura. He observed that Agartala should be developed as a Tea-Hub like Guwahati. It was also discussed that the Chamber should bring in investors and focus on two to three areas to begin with. The Hon’ble Chief Minister also requested the Chamber to meet the Industry Minister and the Principal Secretary, Industry to discuss all these issues at length.
There being no other business, the meeting concluded with a Vote of Thanks with a presentation of a memento to the Hon’ble Chief Minister by the Chamber team. The Chamber would be working on the action agenda in the months to come and be in touch with the Tripura Government.